[SOLVED] Dual core or quad core CPU for Windows XP and for the games? and how much ram?

[Tac 25]

Hi,

Reviving my project to build a Windows XP pc. Was temporarily put on hold because my time was redirected to other things.

1. Which kind of cpu would Windows XP run more smoothly? 2 cores or 4?
2. Which kind of cpu do games from this era prefer? 2 cores or 4?
3. How much ram does windows xp prefer. Is 2gb enough to run it?

I have an e8400 cpu here which is a dual core, if it's a good choice for xp, then I will use it.

 

[TerryLaze]

Depends on what version of XP you are after, the first one is very close to win98 running fine on single core cpus with 128Mb while with service pack 3 it's very close to vista running better on dual cores and much more ram.

Same goes for games, they range from barely better than win98 up to almost modern games.

In my opinion you would only make an XP system for old games to run them as authentically as possible, you can play more modern games on your main system just as well.

You can also set up a VM with XP on your modern system and play with ram sizes and core counts to get an opinion for yourself.

 

[Tac 25]

thanks for the input.

I prefer the XP to be on a separate pc from the others. There's a korean surplus store near my house that still sells some old lga 775 units, planning to put xp on one of those. Won't cost much anyway, they sell those for 60 to 80 dollars each. I also still have the XP installation cd in the closet, although not sure what kind of XP is in the cd.

 

[TerryLaze]

thanks for the input.

I prefer the XP to be on a separate pc from the others.

I'm just saying you can use an VM to figure out what a real XP installation would need to feel good.

It's pretty impossible to register XP in a legal way now anyway, so you will have to deal with a limited to 30 day installation or an illegal registration.
So if the korean shop has systems with legally installed XP on them that would be a better way to go.

 

[Nighthawk117]

Depends on what version of XP you are after, the first one is very close to win98 running fine on single core cpus with 128Mb while with service pack 3 it's very close to vista running better on dual cores and much more ram.

Same goes for games, they range from barely better than win98 up to almost modern games.

In my opinion you would only make an XP system for old games to run them as authentically as possible, you can play more modern games on your main system just as well.

You can also set up a VM with XP on your modern system and play with ram sizes and core counts to get an opinion for yourself.

There are some games that don't run on Windows 10 and there isn't the driver support for XP. I use a VM to run some older games, but the 3D performance is much worse than playing on the old hardware natively.

 

[Nighthawk117]

I have an e8400 cpu here which is a dual core, if it's a good choice for xp, then I will use it.

I would have said quad core just to make Windows run better. However if you've already got the e8400 and other components to go with it I would just go with that. I'm assuming your going with the 32-bit version as that would make sense for the widest compatibility with games. In terms of RAM 2GB should be fine for most things. 4GB is nice to have for multitasking purposes but a single 32-bit app is limited to 2GB.

 

[Tac 25]

@Nighthawk117

thanks for those added info. My old XP pc did run on just 2 GB of ram. When Windows 7 came to the house, the ram was upped to 4GB, and I never had the chance to test XP with 4GB.. so it's the reason why I ask people here.

ok, will ask at the korean shop if they have a 32 bit version of xp available pre-installed in one of their old systems.

 

[TerryLaze]

There are some games that don't run on Windows 10 and there isn't the driver support for XP. I use a VM to run some older games, but the 3D performance is much worse than playing on the old hardware natively.

Yes that's what I'm saying, those games that will only run on XP will mostly be older games from the beginning of XP and not the games that were also made to run on vista.
I'm not suggesting to use VM to run games, just to see how XP as an OS will run with certain amounts of ram and cores.

 

[Nighthawk117]

@Nighthawk117

thanks for those added info. My old XP pc did run on just 2 GB of ram. When Windows 7 came to the house, the ram was upped to 4GB, and I never had the chance to test XP with 4GB.. so it's the reason why I ask people here.

ok, will ask at the korean shop if they have a 32 bit version of xp available pre-installed in one of their old systems.

2GB will fine for XP, if your just playing games then your not going to have too much running in the background anyway.

 

[Nighthawk117]

Yes that's what I'm saying, those games that will only run on XP will mostly be older games from the beginning of XP and not the games that were also made to run on vista.

Yes I agree, it's those games I tend to have a problem with, the Vista ones usually work on Windows 10.

I'm not suggesting to use VM to run games, just to see how XP as an OS will run with certain amounts of ram and cores.

Oh I see what you mean, yes that's a good idea. Some games actually do run ok in a VM, but I've found others just fall apart.

 

[egda23]

I'm just saying you can use an VM to figure out what a real XP installation would need to feel good.

It's pretty impossible to register XP in a legal way now anyway, so you will have to deal with a limited to 30 day installation or an illegal registration.
So if the korean shop has systems with legally installed XP on them that would be a better way to go.

As far as I remember, for making it "legal " you only had to type the key that came with the installation disk during the installation process. I don’t remember any necessity to register online. But that was a long time ago, and I could be wrong.

 

[Tac 25]

@egda23

yeah, that's how I make fresh XP install years ago. Use the cd, type the key written on the cd. And it works fine, no 30 day limit. No need to register online.

anyway, this pc would be purely for offline gaming. I'm aware of the dangers, would barely open the internet at all.

 

[TerryLaze]

Again depends on the version, at some point they did introduce online activation for XP, Windows Genuine Advantage, and you had to validate your serial online.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Genuine_Advantage

 

[Tac 25]

thankfully, I still have the cd that does not require online. This is actually a bootlegged windows XP sold to me by our evil pc technician (just kidding) years ago. Anyway, I do have an original Home Edition XP cd, but we had trouble trying to install it, so had to resort to using a bootleg.

basically, I now have three paths to do this. Find an old lga 775 at the shop with XP already installed, or ask the people at that shop to install XP on one of their lga 775, or I can buy an lga 775 from them and then use this cd on hand.

 

[ImWolf]

The last time I installed XP from my original CD I had trouble registering the OS. If you encounter the same, it's because of "Windows Genuine Advantage" as TerryLaze mentioned above. I ended up using a "WGA Removal Tool" I found online. WGA allows activation and updates, but MS no longer supports either, so you don't need it for anything. Also, (IMO) no one is doing anything illegal by removing WGA so they can install an OS they already paid for.

After installing the OS, I disabled "Automatic Updates" first thing. If not, you'll get all kinds of annoying popups to deal with regarding updating. You can actually get every update that MS released (even beyond the EOL) from a third party. (unofficial Service Pack 4)

https://ryanvm.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10321

Every version of XP32 that I've had was limited to 4GB Ram "out of the box", but you can increase this to 8GB (or more) by adding 2 files to your System32 directory, and editing the Boot.ini file. This allows you to greatly reduce or illiminate the Pagefile.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/i7nhh6hj8af63ui/Gamersky-WindowsXP_64G_RAM.7z

Some have good results with this, but not everyone. I don't play a lot of games.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

.....This is actually a bootlegged windows XP sold to me by our evil pc technician (just kidding) years ago. Anyway, I do have an original Home Edition XP cd, but we had trouble trying to install it, so had to resort to using a bootleg......

We do NOT support the use of bootleg software of ANY kind for ANY reason. This thread is now closed.